


Make It Better

by geekbaits



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character - Freeform, Single Mother!Marinette, Single Parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-06 05:08:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21221090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geekbaits/pseuds/geekbaits
Summary: Alya was gone. Nino was gone. All Marinette had left of her friends was their little baby she had adopted as her own. The thought of raising a baby at 24 was terrifying, but Marinette found that letting the baby go to be something even scarier. Adrienette.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of my Single Mother!Marinette AU from my tumblr @geekbaits. I'm planning on putting in multiple installments to this AU in ficlet form.

Marinette hadn’t exactly seen her life ending up this way at age 24.

It’d been a long day at the office, and she had barely been able to keep up. She was lucky that Gabriel was so understanding of her situation, otherwise she’d expect that he’d fire her without so much as batting an eyelid.

Marinette’s apartment, which was once so neat and adorable, looked like the set of a disaster film. Her shoes were messily stacked near the entrance, the kitchen table’s legs buckled under the weight of all the takeout cartons that were stacked on top, her sink was filled with dishes, and she was in desperate need of clean clothes.

The only thing in her apartment that was well taken care of was the tiny baby currently fussing in Marinette’s arms. Her heart ached whenever she looked at her new baby, who was a constant reminder of who Marinette lost only a few months before.

“Shh, Lulu, I’m here,” Marinette cooed to her goddaughter.

Lou had been crying for the better part of an hour now, and Marinette was at a loss. She tried her hardest to rock the baby to sleep, but she simply wasn’t having it. 

“Lulu,” Marinette pleaded, “Tell me what’s wrong baby. Tell me what’s wrong, and I’ll make it all better for you.”

Marinette was tired.

She was so, _so _tired.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

The infant paused for a moment, and stared up at her new mother. Large tears welled up in her bright hazel eyes—_Alya’s _eyes—and her bottom lip wobbled. It was times like this that Marinette missed Alya and Nino the most.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

She wasn’t supposed to be raising her best friends’ only child.

On a night like this, Marinette and Alya would have passed Lou on to Nino and spent the rest of the night in Marinette’s apartment, sipping wine, wearing clay masks, and watching another film from Nino’s beloved collection of painfully terrible movies.

This wasn’t part of the plan.

Nino and Alya were supposed to be _here_.

Here for their daughter, and here for Marinette!

Marinette had hashed this over in her head many times. At first, she’d tried her hardest to hold herself together, to be the best mother she could be for Lou. Of course, her resolve to not express her own anguish over losing Alya and Nino resulted in a fiery explosion in which she had been seen shouting at their graves.

She was tired.

She was lonely.

  
She was angry and lost.

She was mostly sad.

_The funeral was a quiet affair, with only a handful of close friends attending. Alya and Nino had lost their families at a young age, and so most of the funeral preparations were left to Marinette. Luckily, her parents had stepped in to take care of the arrangements, tasking Marinette with caring for Lou._

_Marinette brushed her fingers against the exquisite flower arrangement. Roses. She knew Alya would have balked at such a cliché choice, but it just seemed fitting. _

_“Honey?” Sabine and Tom drew closer, “Do you want us to take Lulu tonight?”_

_Lou rested peacefully in Tom’s arms, breathing evenly against his neck. Marinette’s parents had moved into their new role as grandparents fairly seamlessly, always helping out with Lou whenever Marinette needed a break._

_She didn’t know what she’d do without them._

_“I’d appreciate that,” Marinette said quietly, “I’ll come get her tomorrow morning.”_

_“No, sweetie,” Sabine replied. “We’ll keep her tomorrow too, just get some rest, okay?”_

_“Okay,” Marinette embraced her mother, “I love you, Maman. Papa.”_

_She could feel her father kiss the back of her head, “Let us know if you need us, okay?”_

_Marinette nodded._

_She was the last person at the burial site, left with her best friends at her thoughts. _

_“So, what do you think?” she asked, “I know it was a rush job, but it happened so fast…”_

_Silence._

_“…in between securing custody of Lou and juggling work, I honestly don’t even know how you guys did it,” she laughed to herself, “Then again, you guys just seemed like you were meant for this. Meant to be parents for Lou…”_

_Sweet little Lucille, who didn’t know that her parents weren’t ever coming back for her._

_Little Lou, who was now going to be raised by her flighty, scatter-brained godmother, who looked absolutely _nothing _like her._

_Little Lou, who was probably going to blame Marinette at some point for ruining her life because she is so ill-fitted to be a mother._

_Not like her best friend._

_The one who left her and Lou, just like that, right when their lives were finally starting._

_“I don’t know if she knows you guys are gone yet,” Marinette remarked to the silence. “I wonder how it’ll be once she realizes…”_

_“Her birthday’s not too far off, so I should really start planning,” Marinette continued to ramble, “Didn’t you want a baby shark theme?”_

_Silence._

_Marinette frowned._

_“Do you think she’ll think it was lame idea when she’s older?” Marinette asked. “Like, sure, she doesn’t know this now, but she’ll get older and start asking questions. What do I do then?”_

_Panic began to settle into her bones._

_“Alya, I don’t know if I’m ready for this. What is she even supposed to call me?” Marinette fretted, “And what am I supposed to do when people start asking her why her mom is some rando Chinese woman? What am I supposed to do?”_

_Silence._

_It seemed almost irrational for Marinette to get angry, but what else was she to do._

_“I can’t _be _a good mother,” Marinette said, “I don’t know _how.”

_None of this would have happened if Alya and Nino hadn’t _left _them. _

_“And I know you’re probably like ‘oh don’t be so dramatic, Marinette,’ but I can’t _hear _you say it. I can’t even _see _you because you’re in this _fucking _mausoleum and I can’t even get to you!” Marinette allowed her anger to boil over._

_“How could you leave me here? How could you leave Lucille here?!” Marinette yelled, “How dare you leave us like this?”_

_She pounded her fists against Alya’s burial chamber, “I _cannot _believe you guys!”_

_Bitter tears rolled down Marinette’s cheeks as she threw herself onto the marble floor of the mausoleum. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d cried so hard. She sobbed until her head was pounding and her ears were ringing._

_“Don’t leave me,” she cried, “Please don’t leave me alone…”_

Lou whimpered, gripping the collar of Marinette’s shirt in her little fists.

Marinette could feel a wave of fresh tears roll down her cheeks. Shuddering, she held her baby girl close to her chest, squeezing her firmly. She brushed gentle fingers through Lou’s curls, and pressed a kiss to the baby’s forehead.

Was she ready to be Lou's mom? No, but the thought of giving her up was something she was even more terrified of. She loved Lou as much as she had loved Alya and Nino, most likely even more than that.

Her gut feeling was saying to hold onto Lou, and even though it was tough, she knew that there was no way she was going to give up her best friends’ baby.

_Her _baby.

Her daughter.

“It’ll be okay, sweetheart,” Marinette promised, “I’ll make it better.”

Through her tears, she rocked Lou back and forth, murmuring words of love and encouragement into the infant’s ear. Her heart ached for Alya and Nino with every passing minute.

She wondered if Lou could tell her parents were gone.

Gone, never to come back.

Lou fell asleep right before the sun rose in the sky, snuggling into the crook of Marinette’s neck. The young woman didn’t dare move, far too exhausted to try to shift the sleeping baby to her crib.

Her eyes felt itchy and swollen, and she knew she’d have to ice them down before she headed into the office at noon. Bleary blue eyes peered down at Lou, and despite Marinette missing the baby’s parents terribly, she felt at ease knowing that Lou was finally getting some sleep.

She pressed another kiss into Lou’s curls, and held her tighter.

“I’ll be better, baby,” Marinette promised, “I’ll do it for the both of us.”


	2. Chapter one

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette reminisces about the good old days before meeting someone new.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have 5 different versions of this chapter lol rip.

_The buzzer dinged, indicating that the macarons were finished baking. Marinette placed down her mixing bowl, and pulled the delicate treats from the over. The scent of sugar and almonds filled Marinette’s apartment, reminding her of her childhood home. She made a mental note to visit her parents as she transferred the colorful shells to a wire rack. _

_Marinette worked quickly so she could return to her passionfruit-infused Italian merengue buttercream. She sighed happily as she folded the bits of passionfruit into the cream, feeling the week’s stress slip away from her shoulders. _

_Her first week at Gabriel had been jam-packed with orientations, assignments, and a nerve wracking portfolio review, given by Gabriel Agreste himself. _

_Marinette was more than pleased to discover that he’d quite liked her work. He liked it enough to have her work with Kagami Tsurugi, the person who was going to be in charge of Gabriel’s base out in Tokyo. _

_An insistent pounding at Marinette’s door brought her out of her thoughts._

_“Right on time,” she grinned, strolling over and opening the door. Her heavily pregnant best friend wobbled past her, making a beeline for the bathroom._

_“Pee first! Then you dish about Gabriel!” Alya shouted over her shoulder._

_Marinette giggled and greeted Nino as he entered her apartment, arms full of groceries and drinks. He pressed a kiss to Marinette’s cheeks, and helped her unload the bags on her island counter. _

_“How was the appointment?” _

_Nino rolled his eyes, “Baby isn’t turning over so we can’t see their sex. They’re so _stubborn_.” _

_“Like their mom?”_

_Nino chuckled, “Exactly like their mom.” _

_“Hey!” Alya whined, “I _heard _that and I resent it!” _

_“Truth hurts, Al,” Marinette chided playfully, “You’re definitely gonna have a handful once the baby is born. How’s your back, love?” _

_Marinette kissed Alya’s cheeks in greeting and helped her into her chair. Alya flung herself down with a tired sigh and kicked her swollen feet onto the neighboring chair. _

_“It’s seen better days, but the good news is that I have an on-call masseuse,” she wiggled her eyebrows at Nino, “He’s there 24/7 rain or shine. He does a beautiful job every time.”_

_“Oh?” Marinette replied, “You should really leave him a good review on Yelp.” _

_“Please don’t encourage her,” Nino pleaded, “I had to dig my elbow into her back for a good half hour this morning. Without any breaks!” _

_“I don’t get any breaks from being pregnant,” Alya sniffed, “So you can hang in there for a measly half hour, tough guy. You hung in there long enough to get me pregnant.”_

_“Well, you definitely weren’t complaining,” Nino shot back, prompting Alya to burst into laughter. She beamed fondly at her fiancé, gently rubbing her hands over her stomach. _

_“Hey guys, I’m still here!” Marinette interjected. She pointed her spatula at her best friends, “I swear, I don’t even know what I’m gonna do with the two of you. You’re worse than in high school.” _

_“Definitely not,” Alya scoffed,” Well, maybe Nino was, but I definitely wasn’t. And you’ll be just as bad once you start dating too.” _

_“Dating?” Marinette parroted, “I definitely don’t have time for that, especially after the week I had. Gabriel Agreste pretty much put me on a separate project than the other junior designers. It’s for the Tokyo branch that’s opening sometime next year.” _

_Alya squealed in excitement, kicking her legs up and down, “Oh my _God_! Your first project on your first week! Come! Come here, my child!” she spread her arms open for Marinette. The dark-haired girl rolled her eyes and strolled over._

_“Why do I have to do all the work?” Marinette grumbled. Alya laughed and squeezed the young woman tightly, “Because I’m baking your future godchild. I’m delicate, Marinette!”_

_Marinette blinked twice and abruptly separated from Alya looking her best friend dead in the eye. _

_“My _what_?” Marinette wasn’t sure she heard Alya correctly. _

_Nino chuckled, and took his seat next to Alya. The couple clasped their hands together and after exchanging a glance at each other, turned their attention back to Marinette. _

_“Marinette,” Nino said, “Did you really not expect for Al and I to name you godmother?” _

_Of course not! Marinette screamed to herself. She didn’t know the first thing about babies, and she was terrified that their child would pick up on Marinette’s bad habits. Marinette had no younger siblings, or even cousins to practice off of. Sure, she’d babysat Nadia’s six-year-old daughter, Manon, but that was 10 years ago! And babies don’t magically age up to become six-year-olds!_

_“Your face tells us everything,” Alya pointed out. “Marinette, you’ll be a great godmother. Our baby will _love _you and you can teach them cool things like how to sew—”_

_“—and draw—”_

_“—and bake—” _

_“—and how to be an amazing person,” Alya finished, grinning at Nino. She reached over to grab Marinette’s hands, “There’s nobody else in the _world _who is more qualified, so can you do your best friends a solid and be our baby’s godmother?” _

_Marinette’s bottom lip quivered. She could feel a lump forming in her throat, but she knew she absolutely had to give them a reply._

_She swallowed._

_“T…They could wind up being a total klutz like me,” Marinette warned. “An absolute spazz who has a caffeine addiction and doesn’t have a proper bedtime and lives off of bread.” _

_Alya smiled, “That’s a risk we’re willing to take.”_

_Nino nodded in agreement, “And besides, if the baby were to develop some dependence on caffeine, I’m pretty sure Alya would also be partially at fault.” _

_“Excuse you!” Alya gasped, “I’ve cut back to one cup a day!” _

_“Yeah, and you used to operate on four cups in the morning,” Nino teased. He beamed fondly at Marinette, “The point is, we love you and we know our baby will love you, and we want you to be their godmother.” _

_Marinette looked at her best friends. Her beautiful best friend Alya resting her hand on her pregnant belly, her hazel eyes sparkling with mirth and Nino, her oldest friend, with the brightest smile and the kindest soul she’s ever known. _

_Their baby would be the best parts of them. _

_There was no way that Marinette would willingly miss out on that. _

_Finally, Marinette took a deep breath and nodded, “I’ll do it.” _

_It was one of the best days of Marinette’s life. _

-

Marinette shifted Lou to her hip as she reached over to press the up button on the elevator. The baby’s doctor’s appointment went well, though Marinette’s ears were still ringing from Lou’s cries when she received her vaccinations.

She eyed her baby warily, “I already know it, you’re going to be a drama queen like your maman.”

Lou burst into laughter, clapping her pudgy hands together. Marinette smiled and kissed her daughter before stepping onto the elevator. Gabriel must have been the only fashion house around that allowed their employees to bring their babies. Marinette had to drop Lou off at the daycare center on the second floor before heading up to her office at the top.

“Alright Lulu, this is your stop,” Marinette declared, handing her babbling baby over to the daycare worker. Lou, already used to her routine, squealed and waved as Marinette disappeared down the hall towards her office.

She pressed the up button on the elevator and waited for it to arrive. She glanced at her watch and observed the numbers above the elevator doors, counting down until it hit the second floor.

Her office was located on the same floor as Gabriel Agreste’s, close to the elevators. In the year and a half that Marinette had been working at Gabriel, she’d slowly begun to move her belongings into the office, resulting in a vibrant wave of pink that stood out from the rest of the office.

Marinette didn’t mind the difference; her design studio closely resembled her loft bedroom in her childhood home.

She could vividly remember how much her bedroom had inspired her when she worked as a child, creating everything under the sun from bowler hats and scarves to hand-stitched banners and album cover graphic designs. Alya and Nino had been frequent visitors, piling onto the chaise lounge as Marinette dug through her trunk of supplies, looking for scraps of fabric.

-

_“Marinette, it’s been _hours_!” 14-year-old Alya complained._

_“We’re starving over here!” Nino added, dramatically throwing himself across Alya’s lap. Marinette waved her best friends off, diving head first into her trunk. _

_“Oh, wah! Wah!” Marinette mocked, “I didn’t _tell _you two to come here! You’re distracting my creative _flow_.” _

_“We’re your best friends, we _are _your creative flow!” Alya replied brightly, “We’re always gonna be here, even if you don’t want us to!” _

_“That’s right!” Nino agreed. _

_Marinette poked her head above the trunk, eyeing her two friends suspiciously, “If I feed you the salmon quiche downstairs, will you go away?” _

_“That’ll buy you maybe 3 minutes,” Alya said. _

_“Maybe less, considering the fact that I’m running down_stairs right now!_” Nino bolted for the door, laughing as Alya sprinted after him. _

_“Nino, you better not eat it all!” _

_“What was that?! I can’t hear you!” _

_Marinette chuckled and shook her head at the pair before flipping through her design book. The pink little book, one of the first gifts Marinette had ever received from her friends, had been the source of many of Marinette’s designs. _

_Carefully, Marinette flipped through the worn pages, blue eyes promptly scanning over the sketches that had been doodled over receipts and napkins and taped into the book._

_She paused on her most recent page, taking a closer look at her fox and turtle-themed outfits. Quickly, she grabbed a pencil and scribbled down a note in the margin of the page. _

_“Marinette!” Alya yelled, “If you want in on this quiche, then you better come down! Nino’s literally absorbing it!” _

_“I’m a growing boy!” Nino complained. _

_“You’re about to be an injured boy if I get down there and there isn’t any left!” Marinette called back. _

_She tossed the book onto her desk and followed after her two best friends, the three spending the rest of the evening fighting over quiche and laughing over the awful movies that Nino loved dearly. _

_It was a regular day for Marinette and her friends, and she wouldn’t change it for the world. _

-

The memory brought a smile to Marinette’s face and for the umpteenth time that day, she was filled with an aching need to see Alya and Nino again.

The days were getting easier for Marinette, but it still didn’t negate the fact that her best friends were gone and she was raising their baby.

Marinette clutched her little pink sketchbook to her chest as she entered the elevator.

“Hold the elevator, please!”

Marinette’s hand reached out to block the door from sliding shut, allowing a tall young man to catch the elevator just in time. He grinned down at Marinette.

“Oh wow, that was close,” he sighed, “Thank you!”

“No worries,” Marinette replied, “You got on right after the majority of the designers went to their offices anyway. What floor?”

“The top, please.”

“Ah, same for me as well,” Marinette smiled. She looked up at the newcomer, pausing when she realized exactly who stepped into the elevator with her. Nerves erupted in her stomach and she felt like ice cold water had been dumped over her head.

It’d taken Marinette a bit of time to get over the fact that she was working with one of her fashion _idols_.

She wondered how long it would take to get over working with his fashion icon _son_. With his shining blonde hair and bright green eyes, Adrien Agreste was every bit as stunning as the publications had pointed out. He’d been a hot topic in the office since Marinette started her work at Gabriel.

Plenty of junior designers would keep an ear to the ground to see if there was any news regarding Gabriel Agreste’s only son.

To Marinette’s knowledge, Adrien had been based in the Milan office before being whisked away to the new Tokyo base to help with the upcoming trunk show. The very trunk show that Marinette had been tasked to create a fashion line for.

It didn’t explain why he was in the Paris office, especially with the trunk show so close by. Marinette could literally _hear _Alya yelling in her ear, telling her to hurry and introduce herself.

_“Always introduce yourself first!” _

_“I’m _awkward_, Al!” _

_“We can practice!” _

Like Alya taught Marinette all those years ago, Marinette took a breath, offered her hand, and gave Adrien Agreste the most dazzling smile that she could summon.

Her heart literally felt like it was going to run away from her.

“I think we’re going to be working with each other. I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng. It’s very nice to meet you!”

Adrien didn’t waste any time to take her hand, its warmth momentarily stunning Marinette.

“I’m Adrien, the pleasure’s all mine.”

In that moment, her cell phone chimed softly, the ringtone indicating that Kagami had sent her an email. Quietly excusing herself, Marinette unlocked the phone and opened her mail.

-

**To: **Marinette Dupain-Cheng  
**Cc: **Adrien Agreste  
**From: **Kagami Tsurugi  
**Subject: **Trunk Show update

I probably should’ve mentioned this before, but Adrien’s going to be working with you on the trunk show. He was really excited about your designs, so I just shipped him out there.

Did you have any ideas in mind for your line name?

V/R,

Kagami Tsurugi・劔鏡  
**Chief Director, GABRIEL ****東京**

-

“So, did you have any ideas for the name?” Adrien asked, breaking Marinette’s concentration. He was beaming kindly down at her, his phone in hand. Marinette could see that he was reading the same email.

Marinette ran her fingers along the spine of her pink sketchbook.

“I have a few ideas.”


End file.
